Man, be very careful how you use those NSAI’s ( Non-Steroid Anti-Inflamitories) The problem with ALL of them, regardless of the other side effects ( liver damage etc.) is that they all work by REDUCING the bloodflow to the affected area. This is great for reducing inflamation and its associated pain, but can you see the problem? Long term reduced blood flow to many areas is bad. Especially to areas such as the meniscus which, as you get older gets less and less blood flow to begin with. Sure, take them to reduce swelling after an injury. But not while exerting yourself. They can lead to an increased risk of injury to the very areas you are trying to help. Think about it. Healthy tissue requires an adequate blood supply for many reasons. What effect will reducing that supply have on critical areas, when you are stressing them the most (ie sparring, exercising, etc.)?
I took large doses of physician proscribed Motrin (800mg)for about a year and a half, after a car wreck injured my back. Result? doubled my chloresterol level (98, the year before, 221 a year after stopping), torn medial menscus tears in both knees, and arthritis in many of my joints. Other factors? Sure probably. But hey, I’ll let you be the next Guinea Pig
Sorry to rant, but this was a subject I felt strongly about.
In squats, the knees should follow the path of the feet. Your feet don’t necessarily have ot be facing directly forward. Look at how powerlifters squat, a lot of them use a wide stance with toes pointed out a bit.
Just keep your knees in line with your feet and you’ll be fine.
Also, generally speaking the knees shouldn’t extend farther forward than the feet as you go down.
Box squatting is a great alternative to regular squatting as well. http://www.westsidebarbell.com for more details. They have guys who squat over 1,000 lbs and they rarely have injuries in the club.
Get a light stretch band (available at www.jumpstretch.com), sit in a chair, and place your legs inside the band. These things are basically just big rubber bands. You might need to fold the band once or twice to tighten up the slack. Move the band up your legs, so that it is right below the knee. With your feet staying planted at about shoulder-width apart, rotate your knees outward (like attempting to do a split) and then bring your legs back together. repeat…etc.
This is what many powerlifting gyms use to strengthen peoples knees, so they don’t bend in when squatting heavy weights. If it helped these guys squat 1,000 lbs, then it should help you as well.
Originally posted by Galadriel
[I wrote a really long reply, explaining all these complicated exercises the physio gave to me, only to realise, that my knees were the otherway around
Can I ask you to send them anyway.
It will give me an idea on how to deal with it the reverse way.
I, too, have the inner muscles more developed. However, this is on purpose. I was told to develop the inner knee (actually one head of the quadraceps) muscles to combat my Patellar Tracking Dysfunction. This is a condition where the muscles and tendons on the OUTSIDE are too tight, so when you bend your knees past a certain point, the kneecap floats to the outside and is off its track. I am naturally knock-kneed, so the knees curve in. This is bone structure, not an acquired condition. The exercise to develop the INNER quadraceps muscle is to do knee extensions, on the machine, only through the last 30 degrees of the motion from straight. So, I assume that to train the OUTER muscles to support the knee you would do the other 60 degrees of motion, stopping before you straighten out too much. An example: Low horse stance.
Make sense??
-FJ
Hi guys,
Basically I have the same problem as fa-jing, so these exercises help to stretch the outer muscles and tendons so the knee cap doesn’t get pulled to the outside.
I hope I explained those exercises alright and you kinda know what I’m trying to explain
This is what my physio told me to do:
Ok, here it goes..
These are exercises for the left leg
Lie on your back and put your right leg at an angle with the foot on the ground.
Point your left foot to the outside and slowly lift it up to about 30 degrees, and slowly down again
Stand on a step or something with your left foot and have it pointing slighly outward, your right leg should not touch the ground. Now slowly bend your left knee and then straighten it again. Go down as far as possible without your knee hurting.
Stand with your left side to a wall. Put your right foot next to your left but from the other side, so its wall, right foot, left foot.
Put your left hand on the wall and push outward and push your left hip forwards and in a right direction.
I also got one of those stretchy bands (haven’t got a clue what they are called), one end I tied to a chair the other end went around my left foot.
So if you stand next to the chair with your right side, lift your left leg diagonally upwards, you should feel a strech on the outerside of your upper leg.
The last exercise involves a pillow and me kneeling on the floor, but I havent got a clue how to explain that one
They should be done about 3 times a day, about 20 times each.
Depending on how bad your knees are, you may also use the lotus or half-lotus pose to stretch the outside of the knee. The pose is actually designed to strech your hips, so make sure you don’t put too much pressure on your knees as this can cause damage. To stretch the inside of the knee, the pose is called “Turtle Pose” and is like kneeling, except you spread your knees out as wide as possible and your toes meet behind you. Try to put your butt on the floor (I can’t). Again, be careful with your knees.
-FJ
I’m just beginning my Kung Fu lessons and I’m concerned about my knees holding up. I’m one of those people who believes practicing Kung Fu is practically a panacea and actually cures all kinds of ills, and I believe practicing Kung Fu will actually strengthen my knees in the long run. However, right now I’m concerned about them holding up to the riggers of the initial training because they do have a tendency to get sore, particularly my left knee has a sharp pain in the front of it when I move certain ways, such as walking down steps or running and getting in to my stances. It’s a sporadic thing and doesn’t happen every time I do these things, and the pain doesn’t last beyond that moment of the twinge. This knee has been doing this for a number of years. I don’t want to get it checked out at the doctor because I don’t want to be told I need surgery and then be incapacited from work and my Kung Fu. It hasn’t really gotten worse over the years, so I figured it’s safe to let it slide until it get’s worse. They haven’t gotten much exercise over the years…I do weights but only for the upper body, and have pretty much gotten no exercise for my lower body in years.
Are there any good exercises/precautions to take to help strengthen my knees and prevent injury?
Any time you bend a weighted knee, make sure your knee/thigh is pointing in the same direction as your foot. This will keep the knee bending in only one direction. Anything else is equivalent to swinging on a door and bending its hinges. Also, if you look down at that knee, you should be able to see your toes - if you let the knee go in front of the toes, it puts a lot of strain on the tendon.
Good advice from PLCrane. As my Sifu always says " The knees follow the toes."
Your knee joint is basically a hinge joint so it has little room to to twist. Be sure you have good alignment and there is not added stress on your knees.
I might also add that sometimes I get the same problem that you do. And as PLCrance stated its when your knee sits all the way over the end of your foot. Don’t let your knee go past the lower part of the ankle. As my other Sifu says “You should be able to see your toes.”
Good luck and becareful. There is a Chinese proverb that says
" The knees are like tofu."
There is an exercise people do after the horse-riding stance. Feet and knees together. And knees bent, hands on knees. Side, back, side, forward, make circles. A few clock hands turning-wise. And a few counter-clock hand turning-wise. Perhaps doing this exercise before stances or running or periodically would help. Ask one of your instructors. Tell them the situation and for what you are looking.
Due to a car accident, I had a torm meniscus like 2 years ago, got it scoped, also got a mri of my other knee, said it had a thinning meniscus. Funny thing is, i did not like the ways my knees felt, went to another doc, he told me that my musles around my knee cap were week, that caused the inflamation, got anti inflamitories and Physical Therapy. Maybe about a year after the initial injury, recovering from surgery, i was back to where I was activity wise, and never really had any pain that stopped me from doing anything.
Anyway, the last 2 weeks, my knees have been acting up. I just get a burning feeling in them. Mostly on the inside of my knees, but a little bit on the outside. It is about the same feeling in both knees. Acts up especially if I do something, I feel it the next day. I am just puzzled why out of the blue it is acting up. I always so some weights in the gym, I try to keep the muscles around them strong. I have not been doing martial arts for a while (actually did tai chi after my accident and really helped), but I wanted to get back into it. Actually a class is starting up in like 2 weeks. This has me concerned.
Any advise, please, on what I should do to feel better? What I can also do to keep my knees healthy (thinking of the long run)?
Well I think they are inflamed. I have no sharp pains, and I really dont hear any clicking noises.
Oh the style I was going to take was praying mantis, but the teacher also teaches internal stuff, said it would help me.
The stancework would help you quite a bit Im sure… The movements and stretching would most likely help bloodflow as well… But Im not a doctor and cant really diagnose the problem by your description…
Sorry I cant be of more help, but if it doesnt feel like anything too serious give the internal a try for a bit and see where it gets you.
I am a strong advocate for the taking of MSM. Great for all connective tissues. If your water consumption is low try increasing it-- that came to me as I read your post (I don’t know why nor do I question those things when they come to me). Also more green vegetables. (Rereading my response I get: inflamation due to toxicity-- flush out your system).
With exercise, strengthen your hamstrings. They are often overlooked when it comes to knee stabilization.
If Tai Chi has worked for you, stick with it. As you get better, try to get lower.
